Of Mice and Men
by YouAndMeInSweetParisEmison
Summary: Hi! So decided to delete 'Love and Loss' as it wasn't really going anywhere. Starting a NEW story where Alison is a Princess and Emily is a villager who falls in love with her. Disclaimer- I don't own the title, it's the name of a book by John Steinbeck. Go check it out.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Alison, dear, do pass me the tartar sauce"

Alison rolled her light blue eyes. She took the bowl of tarter sauce and handed it across the table to her mother. She hated tarter sauce, but her mother seemed to love it. She always wondered why her and her mother had never seemed to agree with anything whether it was the hair style that they wanted their servants to have from the kind of plant they should keep in Alison's bedroom.  
"And then, I jumped on the horse and he took off like an arrow" Jason continued, gesturing his hands in the motion of his stallion.

"Well, that's quite a story, my boy" King Kenneth grinned, taking a large bite of his chicken leg.

"Hmm, quite a story" Alison smiled, sweetly "Almost like it was made up"  
"Not all of us have to try so hard, Alison" Jason spat

"On a more positive note, guess who got a new dress made to today!" Charlotte put in, trying to change the subject and draw the attention away from her now bickering siblings.

"Oh darling, that's wonderful!" Queen Jessica clapped, afterwards running her frail fingers down the rim of Charlotte's dress "I knew there was something different about you today. Such a gorgeous shade of green! Now Alison, why don't you have a new dress made?"

Alison rolled her eyes. She hated that she was never good enough for her parents. They were always telling her to act more like Charlotte or achieve more like Jason. Their expectations were high and for some reason, Alison didn't quite seem to reach them.

"I don't need a new dress, mother" Alison hissed, folding her arms.

"Why ever not, darling. You have outgrown those clothes already!"  
"Mother, these clothes were 7 sizes too big when I got them, so they are still perfectly alright thank you very much"

An awkward silence formed over the Dilaurentis' dinner.

"I met a girl" Jason finally said.

"Oh darling, Jason, that's so wonderful!" The Queen said "Who is she? A princess? A baron's daughter? Please don't tell me she's a citizen"  
"No mother, she's not" Jason sighed "She's a beautiful young independent lady"  
"What position is she?" Kenneth asked in between mouthfuls.

Alison sighed. She also hated that her parents would only accept people of high class, and would turn their noses up at citizens.

"She's the Duchess's daughter"

"Oh goody!" The Queen squealed "And what Duchess is it, may I ask?"  
"I-I'm not too sure" Jason admitted, taking a sip of his wine "Oh but mother, she is such an intelligent young lady. I think I'm falling in love with her"  
"Oh that's wonderful! Alison, you should really find yourself a handsome young prince to escort you down the aisle"  
"I can't wait" Alison huffed, folding her arms and slouching in her chair

"Don't slouch honey, it's rude" The King snapped. Alison immediately sat bolt upright on her chair.

"What about that Kahn boy?"  
"There are two" Alison grumbled

"The youngest one, dear. He's the son of the Duke and Duchess of Sandringham."  
"He sounds great, mom, but I'd really rather fall in love than be pushed head first" Alison sighed.

"Alison Dilaurentis, that is no way to talk to your mother. Apologize right now"

"Sorry, Mother" Alison spat sarcastically.

"I invited them over the castle in a few days"

Alison spat out her peas across the table

"What?"

"Not what, darling, pardon. And clear up those peas, you disgusting child!"  
Defeated, Alison scooped the peas off of the table and dropped them into a waste bucket.

"And I invited the Duke and Duchess of Sandringham and their sons over for a game of golf"  
"Golf? What's that?"  
"It's that game that Jason showed us how to play the other day"  
"Of course it is"

How could she forget. She had just achieved 100% on a math test her tutor had given her and was excited to show her parents. When she had reached the King and Queen, sunbathing on their lime green glass, Jason had been whacking around a hard white ball with a wooden stick.

'Jason's teaching us to play' The Queen had told her 'It's called Golf'

'Such a wonderful game! The King smiled "Jason, where on earth did you learn to play this?'

'A friend of mine made it up. Spectacular, isn't it?'

'That's nice Jason. Mother, Father, I have something to show you!'

'Oh dear, can't it wait until later? Do let Jason finish teaching us how to play'

The Queen looked away at her. Alison had turned around, crumpled up her paper, threw it down into a waste bucket and stormed up to her room.

-  
"Don't be so spiteful, honey. And I will be expecting you to have a new dress made by tomorrow to impress the Kahn's"

"I will do me best" Alison lied. She hated dinner parties like this-Jason boasting about his hunting and her mother and father constantly telling her to pull herself together.

"Those Kahn boys are ever so handsome, don't you think so dear?"  
"Mm hmm" Alison muttered, fiddling with her chicken leg.

"The youngest one would be good for you, wouldn't he?"  
"Mm hmm"

"And the older one, oh he would be perfect for our Charlotte!"  
"Mm hmm"  
"Alison dear, stop playing with your food. It's rude"

Alison slowly dropped the leg of chicken onto her plate.

"Mother, may I be excused from the table?" Alison finally decided to ask her parents. She didn't expect them to say yes. They would maybe tell her to be polite and waiting until everyone else had finished, or to finish eating her greens, or to just hear the end of Jason's amazing story. She was very surprised to hear her mother say,

"You may dear"  
Alison angrily shot up from the table. She folded her napkin, put her cutlery together on her plate and stormed up to her room.

"Stupid family" Alison muttered, stomping up the stone stairs and throwing herself down onto her large princess bed. She placed her hands on her stomach and stared at the ceiling.

"Jason's so perfect" she mimicked "And Charlotte is so well organized. Why can't you be more like them? Jason this, Jason that. Charlotte this..."  
"Charlotte that?"  
Alison sat up on her bed to find her sister, Charlotte, crawling into her room.

"Oh, I'm ever so sorry Charlotte" she stuttered

"It's okay" Charlotte smiled "I'm getting a bit sick of it myself. I mean, why do they think you have to be so much like us? Your perfect" Alison wiped a tear from her eye as her sister sat down next to her.

"Thank you Charlotte" she whispered "But may I ask you one thing?"  
"Anything, Alison

"How do you do it?"  
"Do what?"

"Make mother and father so happy" Alison burst into tears and Charlotte wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Alison finally saw that her sister was no different from her, only she just happened to be the things that Alison could never be.

"I just tell them everything they want to hear" she explained "Can I tell you a secret?"  
"S-sure"

Charlotte cupped a hand over Alison's ear and moved her mouth behind it.  
"I didn't really get this dress remade. I've had it for two years. They are just too up in their heads to notice it"

Alison placed her fingers over her lips and giggled.

"Yes, well, mother and father wouldn't notice if I shaved my hair off"  
"That's not true" Charlotte tutted "They care about you, they really do"

"I just wish I could impress them, you know?" Alison sobbed into her napkin.

"You do" Charlotte assured "You don't realize it, but you do"

"Well not as much as I would like to"

Alison sighed and jumped up off of her bed. She wrapped her fur coat around her slender arms and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Charlotte asked

"I-I need to go out" Alison told her "I can't be here any longer. Around these people and these-these walls" Charlotte's face fell.

"I understand" she said "I won't tell mother and father that you left"  
"Thank you, Charlotte"

Alison swung around the door and left. She tip-toed halfway down the steps and peeped through the iron banister. Her long pink dress flew behind her and occasionally, she would accidentally trip over a piece of fabric.

"So then, I pulled the arrow back and fired it high into the sky" Jason was explaining to the King and Queen. Ugh, dinner was over and he was still showing off about his day to his parents. "It plunged right into the heart of the rabbit. I pulled it out, grabbed the rabbit by it's ears, hauled it onto the back of my horse and wiped the arrow clean"

"You are just such a delight Jason" The Queen smiled "I wish Alison could be more like you"  
"Oh come on now, mother, that is a little too harsh on the poor girl. She is still just a child" Jason argued, taking a large gulp of his red wine.  
"But she is just so behind" The King interrupted "She still behaves like a little girl. She's been wearing the same clothes for 6 whole months and she hasn't found a Prince yet"  
"Give her time, father. She is still finding her way to love..."  
"Yes but dear, I wish she'd hurry up. I could do with another young man around this castle"

Every word that her parents said, the tears in Alison's eyes grew larger and larger.

"Father, you must not be so harsh on her. She is a very attractive young girl. Eventually, she will find her Prince"

"I doubt it. If she keeps acting the way then no man more than a peasant will want her"

The King and Queen laughed and Jason also managed to shift a giggle. Alison couldn't take it any longer. She ran down the stairs as loud as she could and burst into tears, making as much of a scene as she could.  
"Oh, Alison dear..." Her mother sighed to her "What ever is the matter now?"  
Alison shook her head and ran out the door. She ignored the calls of her family behind her. The weather was timid-warm in an uncomfortable way. It was dark and scary and definitely no place for a young girl to be wandering. Alison ran as fast as she could, tears forever streaming down her face. She didn't pass anyone as she was running, as everyone was probably in their houses sleeping. As she ran, all Alison could think about was what her parents thought of her.

'She is so behind. She still behaves like a little girl'

'If she keeps acting this way, then no man more than a peasant will want her'

'I wish she'd hurry up'

Alison ran to behind the castle. She dodged a bird and nearly tripped over a rock and was heading for the gates when all of a sudden, she span round a corner too fast. The figure of a girl was coming round that same corner and the pair crashed into each other quickly. The girl fell backwards onto her hands

"Oi watch it!" She shouted. She jumped onto her feet and stared at Alison. Her face fell when she saw who she was looking at. She turned completely white and looked as though she was going to be sick. "O-oh I'm so sorry ma'am..." The girl bowed her head down.

"It's Alison" the princess sighed, folding her arms.

"A-Alison!" The girl stammered "T-the princess? I'm so sorry. Here, let me fix your dress..." She pushed one hand down Alison's dress, attempting to flatten it down and brush some of the dirt off.  
"It's fine" Alison butted in, taking a step back from the strange girl "And who the heck are you?"

"Emily" The girl introduced, holding out her grubby hand. She was a pretty young girl with slightly tanned skin and dark brown (almost black) hair down below her shoulders. She was wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a messy brown jacket. Her jagged trousers fell just above her ankles and her scruffy black boots reached just under them.

"Ew I'm not touching that" Alison jumped, holding out her hands in surrender.

"Whatever princess" Emily huffed "So, what is a pretty little girl like you doing out here all alone late a night. You know, there are creeps out there who would really take advantage of this situation"  
"I'm just trying to escape my dis functional family" Alison said, brushing off her dress

"Been there, done that" Emily sighed, taking a large swig of her rum "What happened?"  
"As if I would spill my guts to a peasant"

"Hey. I prefer the term 'unfortunate', if you don't mind"

"So...what exactly are you doing here, peasant?"  
"I work here at night. The Queen hired me to wash the walls once everyone's asleep. I live in the village just over there" She pointed over the wall

"Your wearing boy clothes" Alison pointed out "Why don't you wear those lace dresses that the other girls in the village wear?"  
"Ah, they're uncomfortable" Emily told her "Plus, dresses aren't really my thing. I prefer this look"  
"Don't your parents tell you off?"  
"They don't care. They tell me to be myself" Emily answered proudly. Alison sighed. She wished her parents wouldn't care about her life so much and let her be herself.

"I wish my parents were more like that" she sighed.

"You look like you could do with a drink" Emily offered her bottle of rum to Alison. She almost took it, but immediately stopped herself when she realized she was about to accept alcohol from a stranger.

"No thanks" She pushed the rum back towards Emily.

"Suit yourself" Emily shrugged, pulling the bottle back towards her and carelessly swinging it around.

"Are you...sad?" Alison asked, placing her fragile hand onto Emily's shoulder.

"You could say that" Emily laughed. Alison suddenly snapped her hand away from the peasant's shoulder.

"What happened?" She asked, strangely drawing towards this random girl she had just met.

"I just caught my sweetheart kissing the village's baker boy" Emily sighed  
"Oh...I'm so sorry?" Alison asked, not quite knowing what to say

"Yup. She told me that I was the one and when I confronted her, she told me I was just a phase and she was really in love with...him" She took another gulp of her rum "I can't believe her I mean I told everything to this girl. I told her all about me and she knew every secret I ever had. But then one day she goes to pick up bread from the market and she doesn't come back. I go looking for her, worried out my mind and there she is. Up in the baker boy's house without her clothes on. She just stares through me, stupid little bitch. I climb up the window and confront her. She tells me she never loved me, and I was just a phase. An 'experiment'. She practically pushes me out the door and the whole time, he is lying down naked on the bed with his sly little grin and his perfect body"

Sadness swarmed into her chocolate brown eyes. Alison stared deep into them-they looked like a dark black hole. She quickly looked away when she realized the peasant girl was looking right back at her.

"I thought she loved me" Emily trembled. Alison could see she was very near breaking point "Turns out she didn't."

"So, you date girls in your village?" Alison asked, trying to stop Emily from having a full on meltdown.  
"Everybody dates everybody around here" Emily cut in. Alison stopped, turned around and began walking away.

"You gonna walk away just like that, princess? After I spilled my guts to you?" Emily shouted to Alison. There was a small tone of anger in her voice. Alison stopped walking. She shut her eyes and turned around to face her.

"I'm really really upset right now because my parents hate me. They keep saying I should be more like my stupid perfect siblings and that I am just a stupid little immature child. They think so little of me and I just got really really sick of it so I went upstairs and had a conversation with my suddenly nice older sister but when I came down the stairs I caught my parents talking down about me so I ran out here and I was going to run away until I bumped into you. And talking to you right now has made me realize that some people have bigger problems and I shouldn't be so selfish and I need to go home and figure things out and stop being who everyone else wants me to be and just...be...me"

Alison let out a heavy pant and Emily started giggling.

"Slow down there, princess" She said. Alison suddenly flushed white.

"I-I'm sorry I have no idea why I just told you that. Your a complete and total stranger and further more, your just a peasant"  
"Rude" Emily laughed "But I get it. It's okay"  
"I really do have to go now..."

"Gonna talk to your family? Good luck, but just be aware. Things don't always go as planned, even for a princess like you" She warned.

"Yeah, okay then" Alison rushed "I'll, uhm, take your advice in and uhm...think about it"

She picked up her dress and started running back to the castle.

"See you later then! I guess..." Emily called after her, her voice fading away. She reached out her arm to Alison, the beautiful girl she had just met.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Alison, honey, I need you to run an errand for me" Her mother called to Alison as she was just swinging round the stair post, just about to sprint upstairs to escape her family..

"Run an errand?" Alison laughed "Since when did you use that phrase?"

She was still mad at her parents but after talking to Emily a few nights ago, she had decided to try and hide it. She decided to be as perfect as she could be so her parents had barely anything to complain about.  
"Don't be so rude to your mother, dear. I need you to pick me up a few things from the market" The Queen hovered over her throne and lazily sat down on it. Alison skipped over and lent against the back of it.

"Like what?" She sighed.

"Bread, Cheese, Tarter Sauce, Apples, Pears..."

'Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog" Alison finished in her head "Double, Double, Toil and Truble"

She let out a slight giggle, but tried to stop herself by slapping her hands over her mouth.  
"What did I just say, Alison?" Her mother snapped, clicking a finger over Alison's wandering eyes.

"I-I just-Bread Cheese Tarter Sauce Apples and Pears. I got it"  
"Yes,hmm, okay then. Run along child"  
Alison rolled her eyes and stomped out of the castle.

'Run along child' She mimicked, skipping down the country road "Yes yes, do not disobey my commands or I shall lock you in the dungeon with the skeletons and rats'

She flipped a coin in her hand and messily picked it up when she dropped it on the floor. She couldn't stop thinking about one thing though, and that was that girl Emily who she had had a brief encounter with the other day in the middle of the night at the back of her castle. She had the saddest eyes Alison had ever seen. She was very muscular and strong, unlike Alison herself. But she was a peasant, so her parents would never allow her to look at, let alone talk to somebody like that.

Alison reached the market.

"Woah" she gasped "This place is busy"  
She hadn't been into the village for ages, and it had certainly changed. There were a lot more people around and it had gotten a lot smaller. The last time she had been here, she had been with her mother.

"These are not people, dear. They are snot rags" Her mother had told her, as she pulled her headscarf tighter over her head and dragged Alison through the streets. A few odd citizens chased after them occasionally, shouting 'The Queen, The Queen! All Hail The Queen!"

"Why, mommy?" 7 year old Alison had asked

"Because they are poor, dear" The queen had answered, kicking a dying peasant man. A group of young children came excitedly running over to Alison and the Queen. The tallest one bowed down in front of them, and urged the other to do the same.

"All Hail Queen Jessica of Rosewood!" The youngest child had smiled, happily

"And to Princess Alison of Rosewood!" A small boy said. Alison smiled and clapped.

"Hello!" She greeted, holding out her hand for the children to shake it "I'm Alison"

The oldest child reached out her hand to shake it when suddenly, the Queen slapped Alison's hand.

"You are not to touch this people" She snapped "Come on, child. Hurry away"  
She dragged Alison away from the children, who were waving back at her.

"Move it, lady!" A man shoulder, shoving Alison out the way and running past. As he ran, Alison realized she probably should have stopped him. He was storing food under his grubby shirt which he quite obviously had not payed for. There were children, running around and singing skipping rhymes. One child gasped when they saw her. He tapped his friend on the shoulder and whispered to his friend.

'Look. That's the pretty girl that lives in the big house'

Alison was surprised the boy recognized her. She had put on her cheapest dress and a headscarf on to cover up her wealth. For once, she just wanted to fit in with the people around her.

There were market stalls everywhere selling all sorts of goodies. One selling vegetables fresh from the farm, one selling old fruit, one selling sweet things like honey comb, cakes and buns.

"What did she want again" Alison muttered to herself. "Ooh that's right"

After 2 hours of shopping in the market, she had gotten nearly everything she needed. She also had bought herself a couple of buns as a treat. But there was one last thing on her mother's list.  
She hurried over to the fruit stall to pick up the fruit. Behind the counter was a chubby man with a miserable smile.

"What d' ya want" He grumbled.

"Apples and Pears" Alison remembered

"How many, sweet cheeks"  
"A dozen of each"  
The man grabbed the fruit carelessly by the stem. He dropped them into Alison's basket.

"30" He said, pulling his hand out and beckoning Alison to give him money. Alison's throat ran dry.

"I only have 20" She admitted. The man tutted "May I just come back and give you the rest later?"  
"Sorry sweetheart" He sighed "No money, no food"  
He reached for Alison's basket, pulled out the apples and pears and dropped them back into the box.

"Now go away, child. Your ruining my business"  
Alison fumed. The man waddled over to his next customer.

"Stupid old fart" She growled "30 for 24 pieces of fruit? He must be joking"

Then it occurred to her. The fruit was just right there and the man was over the other side of the stall. Alison looked around and scanned to see if anyone was watching, and was relieved to find that nobody was. Quickly, she grabbed her fruit and put it back in her basket.

"Ah-hem"

Alison was startled to hear someone's voice. She smoothed a cloth over her basket and jumped around. Standing before her, folding their arms and smirking was the girl, Emily, that Alison had met a few days before.

"Emily?" She nervously laughed "W-what are you doing here?"  
"Shopping" Emily answered "This is my village, princess. What are you doing here? I didn't think a rich girl like you needed to enter the village under any circumstances"  
"My mother asked me to pick a few things up from the market" Alison answered, turning the basket of fruit around so that you couldn't see that anything was inside of it.

"My my my" Emily sighed "How would the Queen react if she knew her perfect little girl was stealing?" She folded her arms and raised one eyebrow.  
Alison blushed. She pulled the cloth further down over the basket.

"You didn't see anything" She hissed at Emily "Understand?"  
"Whatever" Emily held her hands up in surrender "But, just so you know, you might wanna turn around"  
Alison turned her head to find the fruit man looking very cross. He was quickly walking towards her with a bat of wood in his hand yelling

"Hey, thief! Come back here!"  
"Run!" Emily shouted, pushing Alison to run.

"I can't run in this dress and these shoes!" Alison whined in panic. The fruit man was getting closer. Emily placed a finger to her chin and started thinking, having an idea not long after.

"Get on my back" She demanded. Alison raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, what?" She squealed

"Just do it!"

Alison gave up. She jumped onto Emily's back and Emily wrapped her arms around her legs. Before she could say anything, Emily was running through the market as fast a rocket. The basket of fruit in Alison's hand bounced up and down as Emily ran faster and faster.

"Your strong" She laughed, wrapping her arms around Emily's neck and looking behind her to the man who was still chasing them

"I'm fast too" Emily said and although Alison didn't realize it, she was winking.

"Well, could you be a little faster! He's gaining on us!" Emily sighed and picked up her pace. She ran through everyone she could, Alison still sitting on her back.

"I think we're losing him" Emily panted, her back killing her with the weight of a princess on it. Alison smiled and buried her face into Emily's hair. It smelled like country air-a smell that Alison greatly appreciated, seeing as she didn't get a lot of it. She couldn't help but notice at how strong Emily's shoulders and arms were-much stronger than any boy she had ever seen. Snapping out of her trance, Alison realized that her and Emily were standing behind a bush and they had stopped.

"Jump down, milady" Emily said. Alison slipped off Emily's back and collapsed onto the grass next to her.

"That was quite a run" She said, shifting closer towards Emily.

"Yeah well, it was worth it"

Alison laughed. She liked this girl Emily, and she was not sure why.

"So, can I have some of that O So Prized fruit of yours?" She asked, catching her breathe and tilting her head up to look at Alison.

"But...it's for my mom" She insisted. Emily helped herself to the basket.

"Oh come on, as if she's gonna miss 1 stupid little apple. What's she gonna do with them anyway, dip them in poison?"  
Alison laughed. She allowed Emily to take a bite of her apple, but she immediately spat it out again on the grass.

"I've changed my mind" She laughed "Those apples were totally not worth it. Gosh, by the way these taste, maybe your mother doesn't need to poison them"

Alison giggled, took the apple out of Emily's hand and threw it across the other side of the field.

"Try the pears" Alison told her "See if they're any better"

"Good idea" Emily smiled. She pulled a pear out of Alison's tidy little basket and took a big bite. She dreamily shut her eyes and took a deep breathe.

"Delicious" She said "Want a bit?"

"Ew. As if I would eat from the same piece of fruit as a peasant"

Emily raised an eyebrow and offered the fruit closer towards her. Alison sighed in defeat She grabbed the pear out of Emily's hand and took a bite. The two girls slowly laid back onto the grass and stared up at the sky.

"You know, your not like I thought you would be" Emily suddenly admitted.

"Oh really?" Alison asked, confused "How so?"

"I don't know" Emily sighed "I thought I'd hate you"  
"And you don't?"  
"Nope. Your kinda funny"

Alison smiled. That was the first time in a long time that she had generally been complimented and it meant a lot coming from a peasant girl.

"Sorry" Emily sighed "I'm just a peasant. You don't have to talk to me"

She picked up her boots and was just starting to walk away, when Alison grabbed her leg.  
"No no, it's okay. Your not bad either, for a peasant"  
Emily laughed. She sat back down next to Alison and laid onto her back. The girls shut their eyes and let the sun soak into their skin. They were suddenly rudely interrupted by the sounds of giggles.

"What's that?" Alison whispered, rolling onto her stomach.

"The ghost of your happiness" Emily answered sarcastically. Alison slapped Emily hard on the shoulder and they immediately started laughing. When the laughter had died down...they heard something. More laughter. The laughter came again, this time louder. Intrigued, they crawled forwards and parted the bushes to find a girl and a boy running around the field. They picked daisies and blew dandelions and occasionally stole kisses from each other. Alison glanced over at Emily who seemed to look really distressed.

"You ok?" She asked her. Emily didn't take her eyes off the couple "I-is that her?"  
Emily nodded her head and a tear fell down her face.

"Let's just go..." She grabbed Emily's arm and tried to pull her away, but Emily fought back.

"No" She shouted "I'm going to talk to her"

She angrily jumped onto her feet and kicked a plant down, storming over the the couple.

"Emily, I'm not sure that's such a good idea" Alison protested, trying to grab Emily's shirt. The couple turned around, startled. They backed away slightly as Emily came storming towards them.

"Well, it's nice to see you Paige" Emily smiled "I almost didn't recognize you without his dick in your mouth..."

"Hello, Emily" Paige interrupted "You've met Sean, haven't you?" She wrapped her arms around Sean the Baker Boy's shoulders and pulled him closer.

"Ah yes, Sean! The Muffin Man's son! How are you these days? I see you two have grown very close!"

Alison awkwardly lurked behind Emily's back, waiting for the right moment to say something.

"He's great" Paige smirked "How are you, Emily? Is this your new girlfriend?"  
"I'm Alison" Alison smiled, holding out her hand in gesture. Paige pushed Alison's hand down and tilted her head. "And no, I'm Emily's friend"  
"Nice to meet you, darling" Paige lied "So what are you doing here, Em? Spying on me? Wouldn't be the first time..."  
"I wasn't spying, Paige. I was just looking at the clouds. And for the record, I wasn't spying on you the first time either"

"Could have fooled me"  
"I was worried sick about you. I went looking for you when I saw you with...him"

She pointed at Sean.

"Well I've moved on now, honey, and you should too" Paige told her, turning around and beckoning Sean to come with her. Emily's eyes filled up with tears as she watched the couple walk away. She sniffed and wiped her tears with her jacket.

"A-are you okay?" Alison asked her, realizing that she felt quite sorry for Emily. Emily shook her tears off and smiled.

"I-I'm fine" She lied "Never really cared that much for her anyway"  
"You didn't?"  
"Nope. She was just, there, you know? Someone willing to love me...but I didn't like her that much. Now, are you gonna give me one of those buns or what?"  
"Get your own" Alison spat, suddenly regretting it.

"C'mon princess, you owe me. I just ran a mile get you away from your own mistakes. I deserve a damn bun"  
"Fine" Alison pulled a bun out of her basket and threw it to Emily, who caught it with one hand.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to your castle" She asked, in between mouthfuls "Back to your perfect life?"  
"No such thing" Alison sighed. She picked up another bun and pushed it into her mouth, taking large bites.

"Tell me about it" Emily agreed, finishing her bun "But seriously, your mother will be worrying about you"  
"No she wont" Alison snapped "I bet she hardly remembers I left. And if I did return, she wouldn't even notice me"  
"That's not true" Emily laughed "How could anyone miss a pretty girl in a pretty dress, strutting around looking pretty"  
"Trust me, they do" Alison insisted, smoothing down the cloth on her basket "They're too busy admiring Charlotte or praising Jason" Emily sympathetically smiled at her and met her eyes for a brief moment.

"So, you should be getting home?"

"Not that I want to" Alison sighed "But, yes"

She picked her dress up and packet her bags bag up.

"I-I can walk you home, if you want" Emily offered, reaching out her hand as if to stop Alison from leaving.

"Ew" Alison spat "As if I'd wanna be walked home by a peasant like you"

Emily laughed and raised an eyebrow, knowing that Alison was just trying to keep up her reputation

"Guess I'll see you around then" Emily smiled, holding out her hand, expecting Alison to shake it.

"Yeah, whatever" Alison said, shaking Emily's hand and wiping it on her dress after. She ran off and looked back at Emily, who Alison realized, was oddly cute.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alison, that was a darn stupid thing to do!" Jessica Dilaurentis shouted at Alison from down the stairs.

"No it wasn't. It was telling the truth. What's so wrong about that, mother? You told me to never tell a lie" Alison argued, attempting to run up the stairs. The Queen grabbed a hold of her dress sleeve and pulled her back down

"I didn't mean things that could make people look down on us. Who do you think you are?" Alison opened her mouth in shock.

"Look, they asked me, and I told them the truth. If you wanna yell at someone, yell at them for asking such a question" Alison argued, attempting to escape her mother's grasp.

"I shall not!" The Queen shouted in disgust "You could have given them a simple answer and let them move onto their next question. Why did you have to have a mere explosion?"  
Alison chuckled slightly.

"Well, mother, I wouldn't have needed to give such an answer if it wasn't true!"  
"True? Nothing about what you said to them people was true"  
"Oh really? If you didn't look down on me so much, if you didn't think I was such a disappointment, if you didn't favor Charlotte and Jason over me then I wouldn't have needed to tell that to the Kahn's"  
"I can't even look at you" The Queen spat "Go to your room!"  
"HAPPILY" Alison shouted back at her, almost in tears "I DON'T CARE"  
She stomped up the stone stairs and burst the door open to her room. Tears pouring for her eyes, she threw herself onto her bed.

Suddenly, a tapping came from the castle walls. Alison lifted her head up and looked over to her window. She was shocked to see someone hanging from the window sill outside, dangling above the ground.

Emily.

"Emily?" Alison gasped, running over to the window "What on earth are you doing here?"  
"I...heard...you...arguing" She struggled to say, hauling herself into the window and sitting on the window sill "I have a thing tonight so I came to do my job early, when I heard you shouting at your mother. I gotta say, you sounded pretty angry"Alison nodded, wiping her eyes.

"Anyway. So I decided to climb up and see if you were okay  
"Yeah, well, I'll never be good enough for them" She wiped Alison's eyes with her shirt sleeve and for the first time, Alison didn't push her away.

"Wanna go some place?"  
"Yeah sure" She sniffed

"You look like you need to get out, somewhere far" Emily shrugged. Alison's face suddenly fell and she shook her head.

"I can't" She said "If my mother sees me leave..."  
"She won't have to" Emily interrupted. She grabbed Alison's hand and pulled her towards the open window "Because I, have a rope"

She pointed at a rope dangling from the turret of the castle and reaching the floor. It was really very high.

"Your not serious" Alison giggled

"Oh I'm dead serious" Emily replied. She jumped out the window and wrapped her hands around the rope, climbing down the wall.

"It's not that bad!" She shouted "Just like rock climbing!" Alison giggled. She liked that Emily was adventurous.

"Your braver than me" Alison sighed. Emily shook her head.

"That's not true, princess, your as brave as anything" When she reached the bottom, she jumped and did a back hand spring.

"Now your turn, pretty girl" She shouted up. Alison gulped. She nervously stepped out the window and put all of her weight onto the rope. Slowly and carefully, she started walking down the castle wall.

"You look good from this angle!" Emily smirked from the grounds. Alison blushed slightly.

"Are you attempting to flirt with me, peasant?" Alison laughed in shock. Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm gonna fall!" She shouted, realizing her hands were slipping "Oh..My...Gosh!"  
Just like that, the rope came out of her grasp. Alison quickly started falling down down down. She thought that she was going to die, for sure. As she was just about to hit the bottom, she felt strong arms around her back.

"Gotcha" Emily smirked, Alison covering her eyes and curled up in Emily's arms. "But you look even better from this angle"

Alison hit Emily lightly on her shoulder and she laughed. She lowered Alison down as she brushed off her dress.

"So, where are we going?" Alison asked "If you are taking me to a smelly house in the smelly village..."  
"Relax, princess" Emily laughed "I promise you, your going to love it"

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this" Alison laughed, as Emily continued dragging her through the woods "My mother is so going to kill me when she sees the state of my dress"  
"Oh, calm down. You look absolutely fine"  
They finally reached an open area at the back of the woods near the edge of the village. There was bright green grass everywhere and the sun shone right in that spot.

"This place is beautiful" Alison gasped "But, what are we supposed to be doing here?"  
Emily smiled.

"You'll see"  
She pressed two fingers to her lips and whistled. Out of trees, a large white horse came galloping. It had a shiny white mane and polished brown hooves.

"Whoa" Alison smiled as the horse came bounding up to the 2 girls

"Beautiful, isn't he?" Emily beamed proudly

"Is he yours?" Alison asked, gently stroking the horse's mane.

"He isn't a dress, princess. He doesn't belong to anybody. He is my friend" Emily told her. Alison smiled and looked over at Emily, who seemed to be smiling too.

"What's his name?" She asked her.

"He doesn't have one" Emily said. Alison looked confused.

"Why not?" She asked "Why doesn't he have a name?"  
"Because names are just labels" Emily sighed "He doesn't need a name picked for him. No matter what his name is, he will still be the same. His name will come around naturally one day"

Alison was shocked. She had never met anyone so down to earth as Emily was. She watched as Emily tickled the name-less horse's chin.

"So, wanna ride?" She offered "Come on, you know you want to"  
"I've never rode a horse before" Alison confessed "But, I do wanna try"  
"Climb aboard"

Emily let Alison step onto her hands and climb onto the front of the horse. As Alison sat, she stroked the horse's back. She felt Emily jump up and sit on the horse behind her.

"How do we get it going?" Alison asked.

"Like this"

Emily lightly slapped the horse on the thighs and it started moving. Alison started giggling as the horse ran through the wind.

"This is so cool!" She shouted back to Emily

"I know!" Emily replied. Alison shuddered as she felt Emily's light hands grip around her waist.

"So where did you find him?" Alison asked her, wondering where on earth Emily found such a creature

"I didn't find him" Emily answered "My father worked with horses like these in the army"  
"Your dad's in the army?"  
"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?"  
"Totally. So, how did you end up with this one?"  
"He freaked out and kicked a soldier one day. They were gonna shoot the poor guy but my dad insisted that he would look after him back home. So, he lives in this green area"

"I love it!" Alison screamed "We're going so fast"  
"Let go" Emily whispered into her ear

"What?"  
"Just do it. Let go and hold your arms out"

Alison did as she was told. She let go of the horse, held her arms out wide, tilted her head upwards and shut her eyes. Emily wrapped her arms tighter around Alison's waist as the horse galloped through the green grass.

 **Cue that music from Titanic**

 **You know the one I mean**

Alison's heart was beating fast. She had never ridden a horse before and this experience was as good as anything. For some strange reason, she liked this girl Emily. She was fun and brought out a new side of her. Alison turned her head to look at Emily, who's slightly messy black hair was blowing in the wind. Emily gave her a small smile and Alison thought she looked a little cute.

Just a little though. She could never think a peasant is cute, could she?

"I feel like I'm flying" Alison said

"Cool, isn't it?" Emily smiled proudly "You should come riding with me more often"  
"You know, I might actually take you up on that"

The horse came to a sudden stop. Alison slipped off the horse and sat in the grass, Emily sitting closely beside her.

"You okay?" Emily smiled with her creamy brown eyes staring directly into Alison's.

"I'm fine" Alison replied, tucking her knees into her chest "It's just, you don't know anything about me. Why are you taking me on secret horse riding trips, when you don't know anything about me?"  
"Oh, princess" Emily tutted "Trust me, you don't know anything about you. And I'm pretty good at getting to know people. Tell me something about yourself"  
Alison smirked.  
"Good afternoon. My name is Alison Dilaurentis and I live in the Rosewood Castle. I am 16 years old"

Emily shook her head.

"Nope" She said "I didn't ask for something about yourself. I asked for something, about, yourself" Emily picked up a rock and threw it in the air, throwing and catching it as Alison spoke

"That's the same thing" Alison insisted.

"No, it's not" Emily told her "Tell me something that you can't tell just by shaking your hand. Tell me something under the shell"

Alison shrugged. She had never really told anyone anything personal about herself. She didn't really have much to say.

"I...have never been kissed" Alison admitted. Emily raised her eyebrow.

"Seriously?" Emily said, surprised "Such a pretty girl like you? I'm surprised you don't have guys pouncing on you from every direction"  
"Yeah, well, my mother would never allow anyone to even look at me unless they are some sort of royalty"  
"That sucks" Emily sighed "So, do you have a crush or anything?"

"No" Alison sighed "Everyone these days are either ugly idiots, or even worse, pretty idiots. Your the only person I've ever met who is a pretty decent person"

"Thanks, Alison"  
Alison gulped. It was the first time since they met that Emily had called her by her full name, and not princess.

"What about something about yourself?" Alison asked. She realized, she didn't know anything about Emily. Emily smirked and looked up at the sky.

"There are things about me that you don't wanna know" She finally answered, dropping the stone and staring at Alison with a serious look on her face "Things that might scare you away" Alison shook her head.

"I'm sure that's not true" she laughed "I can't think of anything that will scare me away..."  
"I killed a man"

Alison gulped. She stopped breathing for a while and stared at Emily.

"Why?" She finally managed to ask. Emily looked at the ground, and looked as if she was about to cry...but she didn't.

"He wasn't really even a man yet" she choked "More of a boy"  
"What happened?" Alison was eager to know. She crawled closer towards Emily and watched as she almost broke down.

"There was this girl in our village, Maya St Germain" she started explaining "A real nice girl. Never did nothing to nobody When one day...she turned up dead"  
"That's terrible!" Alison gasped "Do they know what happened to her?"  
"Oh yeah" Emily nodded "They do now. Shortly after, I met this boy, Nathan. Nate for short. I was immediately drawn to him and him to me. We started seeing each other for a few days...until he asked me to come to his cabin. I woke up in the middle of the night, got bored, and decided to go for a walk. He was out there waiting for me with a knife. Told me he killed Maya because he was in love with her and she wasn't in love with him because there was someone else in the way..."  
"Who?" Alison asked.

"Me"

All talking stopped. Alison crawled back further and could have sworn a single tear nearly fell from Emily's eye.

"Maya was...in love with you?" Emily sadly nodded.

"And I had no idea" She admitted "I keep thinking, you know, maybe if I had noticed her, we could have been together, Nate wouldn't have come on to her, wouldn't have fallen in love with her and wouldn't have...done...that"  
"It wasn't your fault" Alison assured "Nate...he was probably crazy. You might not have been able to stop it. So... you killed him?" Alison asked, smiling with pity.

"Yup" Emily threw a rock at a tree "He tried to stab me, so I grabbed the knife and...and I...gosh, I still remember the feeling when the blade hit his stomach, and how it felt like popping a bubble..."  
"I'm so sorry" Alison felt as if SHE was going to cry now "But that hasn't scared me away. In fact, I think I like you more now you've admitted that to me" Emily smirked, showing her dimples.

"Thanks" she smiled "For not being scared of me"

"So, are we friends?" Alison decided to ask

"Sure we are" Emily smirked. She wiggled her hand on top of Alison's and smiled to her.

"I've never had a friend before" Alison said, sadly.

The mood was quiet and an awkward silence formed among the two girls. All they could hear was the horse, grunting in the background.

"So, if we are friends, I'm gonna need a cool nickname" Emily bounced, trying to change the mood "Got any ideas?"

Alison started thinking for a while. She tapped her chin with her fingers. Suddenly, her face lit up.

"Mermaid" She smiled. Emily's face had a look of disgust.

"Mermaid?" She chuckled "Seriously? Those weird see half human, half fish fantasy things that live in the sea?"  
"They are not fantasy" Alison insisted "They are real life. And they are not weird, they are beautiful, elegant, sweet creatures" Emily smirked.

"You think I'm beautiful, elegant and sweet?" She asked. Alison was too shy to say 'Yes'.

"Well, that may be pushing it" She laughed. Emily punched her lightly on the shoulder and collapsed into laughter.

"You know" She smiled "I think I have a name for the horse"

"Really?" Alison gasped "What is it?"  
"Emison"  
Alison looked confused.

"Emison?" She asked "What does that mean?"  
"It means" Emily started, lifting Alison onto her feet "Emily and Alison"

"Why did you decide to name is that then?" Alison asked, stroking Emison gently on his mane.

"Well, you know how I said his name will come naturally one day" Emily began, combing her fingers through his fur "I think that day is today. Your here, with me, today, right now, and this name feels right" Emily's mouth curled into a cute little smile and so did Alison's.

"Emison" She said "I like it"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

Alison ran through the dark depths of the wood. It was a cold night and there was nobody around. But she had had enough. Her family just did not like her whatsoever and she was sick of it. So, the brave princess climbed out of her window and ran.

She had been running for almost an hour without stopping. She didn't even know that she had that much energy in her. But she ran and she ran, brambles catching in her hair. Eventually, Alison got tired and found a nearby tree, leaning on it with her back. Clutching her chest, she panted and panted, not even knowing where she was going. Until...she heard the snapping of twigs.

"H-hello?" she stammered nervously "W-who's there?" the snapping of twigs got louder. Alison tried looking into the distance, but saw nothing. The twigs got louder and louder...or maybe just closer and closer.

"H-hello?" she cried, louder "Is there anybody there?"

Her heart was beating fast. She was so sure that it was some mass serial killer that had come to kill her. Suddenly, she felt cold chills all through her body as she heard a slight voice in her ear whisper...

"Boo"

Alison jumped around quickly, her arms covering her face. But instead of a serial killer, or a demon animal, standing before her was Emily Fields.

"Fucking Hell!" Alison screamed "You scared me half to death, Emily!" Emily chuckled.

"Nice to see you too" she said "You know, we really should stop bumping into each other like this..."

"What on earth are you doing out here?" Alison spluttered, a little louder than intended.

"Calm your voice, princess" Emily hushed "You don't wanna wake up the entire village.

"Oh shut up" she growled, brushing the leaves and twigs off of her dress "You shouldn't be out here, you know"  
"Neither should you" Emily laughed, pulling a thorn out of Alison's beautiful golden hair "I would ask you what your doing out here, but I think I already know. You can't just run away from your problems"  
"Oh yes I can" Alison argued "And I am. Now if you don't mind, I have a train to catch"  
"Oh no, girly, you are not going anywhere" Emily firmly grabbed onto her arm to stop her from running.

"Oh yes I am" Alison replied, trying to pull out of Emily's grasp. Emily shook her head.

"I won't let you" She said "Come on, your coming with me"  
"I am not going back to that castle!" Alison shouted

"You don't have to" Emily sighed "Come on, just come with me"  
Emily led the princess by the hand deeper into the woods. Alison had absolutely no idea where this girl was taking her, but she trusted her for some unknown reason.

"We're here" Emily suddenly said, snapping Alison out of her trance.

"Where's, here?" Alison spat "There's nothing out here. Just trees..."  
"Look up" Emily laughed, pointing up in the sky. Alison looked up and was shocked to see a house like thing in the mid of the tree. It was built with wood and leaves and was quite large-big enough for someone to live in there.

"What on earth is that thing?" Alison asked, moving closer towards the tree and rubbing her hand across the bark.

"It's a tree house" Emily replied, moving next to her with her arms folded, looking up at it proudly "And I made it"

"You made this?" Alison gasped in disbelief.

"Oh yeah" Emily announced, slapping her hands against that tree "Just over a year ago. Beautiful, isn't it?"  
"I love it" Alison smiled "Can I go up?" Emily laughed and looked at Alison, her eyes eager.

"I didn't bring you all this way to stare at it" she said "Of course you can go up" Alison nervously stepped on the first block of the ladder and slowly began climbing up.

"Uuh, Emily?" She shivered "I-I'm gonna fall!"  
"No your not" Emily laughed, keeping her hands out in front of her just in case she DID fall "Besides, if you do fall, I'll catch you"

"You won't be able to catch me" Alison scoffed, continuing with her climbing. Emily rolled her eyes.

"Are you seriously doubting me, Alison Dilaurentis?"

"Not at all" Alison answered "I'm there!" She suddenly reached the top of the ladder. Emily, quickly, scuttled up the ladder and reached the top where Alison had stood up.

"Wow" she suddenly said, walking into the tree house. It was quite a big area, but with only one room. It had a trunk in it, presumably with things Emily liked to collect, a chest of drawers, an old wooden bedside table with a lie candle on it, and one double bed in the middle of the room. Over the other side, there was a balcony looking over the rest of the woods that seemed to never end.

"I love it" Alison smiled "S-so I can sleep here?"

"Of course you can" Emily laughed, walking over to the balcony "As if I would leave you all alone in the middle of the woods at the middle of the night" Alison smirked. Her face suddenly looked slightly confused.

"W-where will you sleep then?" She asked. Emily too looked puzzled, mainly at Alison's question.

"Uhm, in here?" she answered. Alison raised an eyebrow.

"If your in here, then where am I?" she asked. Emily laughed slightly.

"Your in here too, silly" Alison looked surprised.

"What like, on the floor?" Emily giggled, but almost found Alison's questions cute.

"I would never make you sleep on the floor, princess" she said "Your sleeping on the bed"

"Sooo, your sleeping on the floor?" Emily shook her head.

"No" she answered "I'm sleeping in the bed too" Alison almost looked shocked at this.

"With me?" She answered. Emily nodded her head. Alison looked surprised for a little while longer, but then she suddenly got used to the idea.

"Okay" she gulped.

"Glad we've cleared that up" Emily chuckled "Now, come on. I'll show you something"

"They're beautiful" Alison gazed at the stars up above. The two girls had climbed up some stairs that Emily had built in herself and now were both sitting on the roof. Alison twirled her hair in her hand and sighed. Emily sat closely snuggled next to her with a bottle of beer in her hand.

"I know" she smiled "And they're everywhere. They're all twinkly and...amazing" the princess nodded her head in agreement.

"You know" Emily continued "Me and my dad would always come up to the trees at night and watch the stars and see if we could make patterns out of them" Alison looked confused

"How do you make patterns out of the flipping stars?" she laughed, trying to work out how twinkly objects in the sky could form patterns.

"They just look like things" Emily said "Look, there, that one looks like a cat" She pointed up to an arrangement of stars that oddly enough, looked like a cat.

"I think I see it!" Alison suddenly got excited. Emily smiled.

"That was always my dad's favorite" she sighed. Alison looked over at her, and was trying to work things out.

Was

"Emily" she said "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure" Emily answered, taking a swig of her rum that she always seemed to be drinking.

"Why do you always refer to your father as being in the past tense?" Emily's face fell. She stopped the grin she always wore and had a look of intensity in her eyes.

"When I was 10" Emily finally sighed "My dad joined the army, as you may already have known"  
"Yes" Alison said "That's where you got the horse from"

"Yes" she confirmed "So anyway, when I was 10 he joined the army for the King. We were all so happy because he was one of the best and was therefore getting paid a lot. He was well good at it too. "One day, when the current war ended, the families of the people all went to meet their loved ones back from the army. I was used to this, you see. Walking up to the hill surrounded by thousands of people. Seeing my dad over the other side and he would run over to me and pick me up and give me cuddles. Then he would carry me on his shoulders back home"  
"Oh" Alison whispered. She could see tears welling up in Emily's eyes.

"But" she said "T-there would always be a few people left at the end, who's loved ones wouldn't come back and...and I always used to watch them break down into tears. A-and I never thought...thought that it would be me" her voice suddenly went all pitched and squeaky and Alison realized she was about to cry.

"But it was" she said, wiping her tears "We waited right until the end, until the major's came up and told us that there was no one left. My mom completely lost it- she fell to the floor and started crying so much that she was almost sick"  
A tear trickled down Alison's eye-she never realized how much losing someone could mean.

"And so did I" Emily admitted "A lot. Well, I didn't a first. I didn't really understand-I was pretty much shocked. I thought it was a joke. But when the sun started setting and I realized he was gone, I fell to the floor with my mom and cried for hours. We could barely get on our feet to home, and even that took us an hour"  
Alison suddenly felt really sad and was almost about to cry herself.

"I'm so sorry" she said "I never should have asked you about it" Emily shook her head.

"It's fine" she said "Sometimes it helps, you know, talking about that day. Helps me process it a bit more"  
Everything was silent for a few moments until Alison eventually started shivering.

"Hey, you cold?" Emily asked.

"No. I'm fine" Alison replied.

"No your not" Emily laughed, stepping down off the roof "Come on, let's go inside. I'm tired now anyway"  
Alison grabbed her hand and jumped down, watching Emily shift a smile. Then, they walked inside

Alison woke up in a strange place, not knowing where she was. She looked around the room and realized that it wasn't her bedroom, and that it was some sort of strange wooden hut. And then she felt something else...

A hand. A soft, warm, hand wrapped around her waist. There was another hand wrapped around the other side of her, and she realized her own hands were laced in between these hands. There was also a leg draped over hers and her own leg was tangled with it. Alison slowly let go of the hands and rolled over off of the bed. She stood up and peered at Emily, who she had woke up cuddling with.

"God" Alison sighed, rubbing her head. Emily's arms suddenly outstretched and her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning" she yawned, sitting up and brushing the hair out of her face "Sleep okay?"  
"Y-yeah" Alison answered, brushing down her dress and her head still splitting "S-so what, shall I just go home then?"  
"You can if you want to" Emily shrugged "But you don't have to" Alison raised an eyebrow, walking over the edge of the Tree House where there was a little balcony.

"What else is there to do here?" She asked, looking across the trees.

"Well I was going to go swimming" Emily announced, getting out of the bed and stretching "You can come with me if you want" Alison quickly turned around with a huge grin on her face and her eyes wide.

"Swimming?" She asked "Like in actual water? In an actual lake?" Emily looked confused and laughed at how excited Alison looked.

"Uhm...yes?" She replied, giggling slightly "Have you never been swimming before, princess?"

"No" Alison sadly admitted "My parents never allowed me to go in the water. They say that it's dirty from all the villagers that had swam in it previously, and it would make my skin vile. Is that true?" Emily laughed.

"Not at all" She said "Hardly any of the villagers go in this lake I go to-everyone either bathes in their washing bowl and if they can be bothered to come out here, then they are almost professional great swimmers. So, wanna come?"

"Of course" Alison said, walking over to Emily who was putting her coat on "B-but I have nothing to wear, What do you usually wear for swimming?"

"Uuuh" Emily blushed slightly and bent down to fiddle with a draw. In it, she pulled out a pair of underwear.

"H-here" She stammered, feeling awkward as having to give Alison underwear "Newly sewn. I promise it's never been worn. Alison chuckled.

"Right then" She said "Let's go down to this swimming place or whatever"

"How far is this lake?" Alison panted, slowly following Emily who was almost sprinting.

"Just here" Emily said. The two girls suddenly landed near a small place behind a slightly tall rock. The water was clear as day and the deepest part came up to about Alison's shoulders.

"It's beautiful" Alison said, breathless "Well come on then, let's get in!" Alison ran towards the pool and was just about to jump in when she felt Emily's firm hand grip her wrist.

"Not so fast, girly" She laughed "You gotta change first otherwise you'll ruin that beautiful dress" Alison rolled her eyes as she went and stood next to Emily, who was unbuttoning her shirt and pulling her swimming underwear over her head. Alison's eyes slightly dropped from Emily's face to her stomach, which was perfectly flat and toned with the best abs Alison had ever seen. She slowly gulped at the sight of them.

"You alright there?" Emily laughed, catching Alison's eyes. Alison quickly stopped looking and turned around.

"I'm fine" She snapped "I was...nothing..." Emily rolled her eyes

"Right we can go in now" she announced. Alison nervously stepped into the water and felt the coldness ripple throughout her body. Emily ran to the edge, and jumped in with no hesitation splashing the water against Alison.

"Emily!" Alison laughed, her face annoyed "That water's freezing!" Emily was laughing hysterically at Alison, who was stood dripping wet with water.

"Right your going to pay for that" she insisted. Suddenly, she too jumped in with a huge splash right next to Emily and started splashing water on the other girl.

"Hey!" Emily laughed "That's cold!"  
"Tell me about it!" Alison playfully shouted "You got what was coming to you" Emily stood up and splashed the princess with the ice cold water.

"Oh wow" she responded "Are you asking for a full on water fight?" Emily nodded her head.

The water fight seemed to last for hours, Alison splashing Emily with the water and Emily not long doing the same over and over again. They would chase each other round and around in circles laughing and splashing water. Until it got to a point where they were both completely too tired.

"Gotcha!" Emily laughed, splashing Alison. Alison, who was now too tired, started backing away. She accidentally tripped over a piece of rock and crash landed on the edge of the river bank and unfortunately enough, Emily too tripped over the rock. She landed with her hands either side of Alison and their noses were completely touching.

None of them said anything for a few moments, just looked deeply into each others eyes. If anyone had walked past at that moment, it would have looked absolute definite that they were about to kiss...but they didn't. After a while, Emily stood up.

"I should probably get going now" Alison announced. Emily nodded her head.

"Okay" she agreed "Here, take this. It'll help you get dry"  
As they both climbed out of the edge of the river bank, Emily threw Alison her jacket and the blonde girl wrapped it around herself.

"Thanks" She said. As she got dry, she peeled the towel away from her body and walked over to the tree that she had left her clothes under. Emily's eyes wandered from her back down further...and just lingered there for a while. Silently, she gulped, realizing how screwed she was. Alison turned around and looked at Emily.

"Hi" Emily said awkwardly, raising a hand "I-I was just...admiring your legs" Alison rolled her eyes.

"Okay" She laughed, stepping into her dress "Are you going back to your tree house then, Forest Pixie?"

"I'll walk you home" Emily instantly offered "Y-you know, we're pretty deep into the woods and I wouldn't want you getting lost.

"Thanks" Alison smiled. Emily watched Alison flick her hair up and walk away, noticing how cute her dimples looked.

"You coming or not?" she then laughed. Emily snapped out of her trance and obediently followed the princess back to her castle.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

Emily and Alison had visited each other often since that night. They would go riding again or out to the market to buy treats. Emily often treated Alison to a sugar bun when she hadn't quite managed to sneak some money out of her mother's bag. Alison would find it cute when Emily's face got covered in sugar, but would never say anything about it.

"Buns, or honeycomb?" Emily asked Alison as the two girls were just out on another day at market. The sun was blazing bright up in the sky and they were both sweating.

"Uh, buns" Alison replied. Emily dropped a few pennies into the Baker's hand and he handed her over two bread buns. Alison took hers and started walking down the end of the street.

"You know" Emily began, in between mouthfuls "I should really introduce you to my friends one day"

Alison sank her teeth into her bun.

"Indeed. I would so love to meet your friends" She answered.

Before any of them could do anything, a large man ran past. He grabbed Alison's hand and started running with her in the opposite direction. Alison screamed and dropped her bun.

"Emily!" She cried, the rough man pulling her down the road by her wrists. She tried to push him off, but he was too strong for her. She descended further and further into the distance. Emily didn't waste any time. She dropped her pennies and bun and ran after Alison.

"I got meself a princess" The man chuckled, pushing past the crowd and running through anyone who tried to stop him from running "Ow, she will sell for lots and lots, yes she will"

Alison kicked him hard in the back of his leg. He turned around and snarled.

"Pretty princess trying to defend herself? Try defending this"  
He kicked Alison hard on her knee and she flinched, grabbing her knee.

"Emily!" Alison screamed, tears rolling down her face. Emily sprinted as fast as she could after the man. She was so very close when he suddenly turned a corner.

"Come back here, creep" She hissed, attempting to grab his collar. He ran up to the alley wall and stopped, slowly turning around. Alison's wrist had turned red by his grasp and her face was wet from tears.

"Take your hands off of her" Emily demanded. The guy smirked.

"It's gonna cost ya" He snickered, holding out his hand and beckoning for Emily to put something in it.

"What do you want" Emily sighed in defeat. She stared at Alison who was pleading with her eyes and mouthing 'Help me'.

"30" he decided "Pay up, sweetheart, or go home."

"Yeah. Sure" Alison shot Emily a look as if to say 'What on earth do you think you're doing?' Emily gave her a knowing wink back. She pretended to pull something out of her pocket and squeezed it tight into her hand.

"That's it, darling. Hand it over"  
Emily gave him her hand. She hovered it over his own and just as he opened his hand to receive the pennies, Emily grabbed it. She twister his arm behind his back and pinned it up against the wall, beating off his other hand so that Alison could escape.

"Let...me...go...stupid...bitch" He grumbled from his cheeks. Alison ran and hid behind Emily.

"Leave the princess alone" She hissed into his ear "Walk away, and never speak a word of this to anyone"

The man nodded as Emily let go of his dirty hands.

"Run!" She yelled to Alison. The two girls ran down the end of the alley way, Alison slightly limping.

"You hurt?" Emily asked, as they reached a clearing in the grass.

"A bit" Alison answered, grabbing onto her knee. It was swollen and purple.

"Did he kick you?" She asked, bending down to take a look at her knee. Alison nodded "He was a creep anyways. That bruise will soon heal up"  
Alison smiled. She loved Emily's reassurance.

"Want a piggy back back to the hut, princess?" Emily offered, bending down for Alison to get on her back.

"Sure"  
-

"I had fun today" Alison smiled "You know, despite the fact I was nearly kidnapped by a homeless man" Her and Emily were sitting in an old deserted hut near the stables with a fire.

"Yeah. Me too" Emily smiled back. She threw another log into the fire and the flame grew bigger.

"I never thanked you for what you did today" Alison confessed. A small smile curved up Emily's mouth "So thanks"

"D-Don't mention it"she stammered "Is that bruise still hurting?" Alison rolled up her dress revealing a large bruise on her knee.

"It's fine" She said "It could have been worse"

"Yeah" Emily smiled "That guy was seriously a total creep. Someone should report him"  
"Report him to who?" Alison sighed "The Queen? My mother? If she finds out I was at the market...with you...then she will punish us more than him" Emily sighed too, Alison rolling her dress back down.

"I understand" She smiled. Alison's face fell and her neck dropped. "What's the matter?"  
"How do you do it?" Alison said, quickly

"Do what?" Emily answered, throwing another piece of wood into the fire.

"Your so brave. How do you do it? How are you always so positive and fearless"

"I am so not fearless" Emily laughed, blushing slightly.

"Everything is so easy for you" Alison sighed "Everything you do...say...it's nothing to you"  
"Well, being an outcast has its perks" She uncapped a bottle of rum and started drinking.

The fire was crackling hot. Their faces were both burning with the heat. Emily was staring, smiling at Alison with her creamy brown eyes and cute little smile, when Alison did something unexpected. She grabbed the back of Emily's head and pecked her on the lips, immediately pulling away. Her lips tasted of the rum she had just drank-bitter sweet. Emily's cheeks turned hotter than they already were.

"I-I don't know why I just did that" Alison blushed. She quickly stood up and brushed her dress off.

"Alison-"  
"I-I have to go"

She hurried away to the old wooden door. Emily stood up and tried stopping her but before she could do anything, Alison was already gone.

Emily sat on the log, her head in her hands. Alison had just ran out with her without saying anything.

"Ugh" She groaned "She forgot her stupid hat"  
By her feet was a white frilly summer hat that Alison had been wearing that day. She picked it up, brushed the burnt wood and dust off of it and headed out the door.

The air was cold. The wind blew harshly and the hat nearly flew away. Emily held it to her chest as tight as she could.

"Oy! Watch it!" A homeless man yelled as Emily tripped over his muddy boots.

"S-sorry"

She hadn't been concentrating on the man in the street, or anything...since Alison had kissed her. Alison Dilaurentis, the Princess of Rosewood, had kissed her.

'Do I like her?' Emily asked herself 'Of course I do-what's not to like'

She had almost reached Alison's bedroom window when she cursed and stamped her feet on the ground.

"Fuck. I forgot the rope"

Emily dropped the hat and stared up at Alison bedroom. It was quite high. If anybody fell from there, then that would be the end of them. There were a few loose bricks in the castle wall that Emily thought she could just manage to climb up...

"Oh god oh god oh god" Alison muttered, pacing up and down her bedroom. She shook her fists and stared at the ground "Oh god. What did I do?" Alison slumped down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"I just kissed a girl" she whispered to herself "An actual girl. That was my first kiss...and it was a girl"

She had been muttering to herself for the past hour. "She's adorable though...do I like her? Of course I like her. She's everything. She's everything I ever want in a person" Alison suddenly clapped her hands in her head "What am I saying? I can't be with her-a girl, a peasant! What would people think of me? What would mother and father think of me?" suddenly she remembered "Oh screw mother and father, they don't give a damn about me I might as well be dead. Emily Fields is an adorable little cutie and I want to kiss her. But what do I tell her? Shit shit shit shit shit" She cursed, throwing herself onto her bed. There was a sudden tapping on the window.

"Oh dear God please don't be Emily" She thought. But sure enough, it was her, hanging from the window sill and smiling up at Alison.

"She's so cute" She thought "Damn, No, I can't say that. Or can I?" Alison continued staring up at the ceiling.

"Gonna let me in, pretty girl?" Emily called from outside. Alison suddenly jumped up and realized Emily was still hanging outside her window. She beckoned Emily to come in, a thousand thoughts running through her head.

"Hey" Emily smiled, walking over to Alison's bed. She was wearing her big fancy white hat "How do I look?"  
"Cute" Alison smiled, without thinking "I-I mean, great" An awkward silence dawned in Alison's bedroom.

Emily took the hat off and spun it around her fingers. The hat flew off neatly onto Alison's head.

"Cool trick" Alison said. Emily sat down on the bed in front of Alison.

"Don't mind me ruffing up your sheets a bit, princess?" She smirked. Alison shook her head, still unable to talk "Hey, you ok?"  
"Fine" She managed to say, her eyes wandering the room "H-hey, Emily, I'm sorry"

"Sorry for what?" Emily asked, crossing her feet up on the bed

"For earlier" Alison replied, bowing her head "I-I know I shouldn't have kissed you and I..."  
"It's okay" Emily interrupted "I'll just, pretend it never happened. Hey I like your bed covers by the way"  
"Thanks" said Alison "B-but the thing is, I'm not sure if I want to pretend it didn't happen" Emily's eyes widened.

"Y-you what?" Emily said, her throat dry. Alison turned bright red and could hardly get the words out her mouth.

"Look the truth is" She said, almost bursting "You are really really cute. Like too cute to even be human. Cuter than a.."  
"Yeah I get it," Emily blushed "Your point is?"

"And I think I...I..."  
"Spit it out, princess"  
Alison blushed. She loved it when Emily called her princess.

"I think I like you" she whispered. Emily gulped. She moved her hand over to Alison's and rubbed the back of her hand.

"I like you too" Emily confessed. This time, it was Alison's turn to gulp. They both slowly moved in towards each others faces when Emily snatched the hat off Alison's head.

"Hey, give that back!" Alison laughed, reaching out her hand to try and grab the hat off of Emily's head. Emily jumped off the bed and stood in the middle of the room.

"Hello" she greeted, in her poshest tone "My name is Alison Lauren Dilaurentis and I am the princess of Rosewood"  
"You know my middle name" Alison muttered "Wow, you really pay attention to me, don't you?"  
"I-I do" she stammered before continuing strutting around the bedroom.

"I have pretty blonde hair and ocean blue eyes" Emily mimicked. Alison laughed.

"My parents want me to be like my perfect siblings" Emily continued "But what they don't realize is I am the most perfect human being alive"  
Alison blushed, smirking at Emily's every word.

"Stop it" she giggled, attempting to reach out for the hat. She jumped up and ran after Emily, trying to get it.

"You are such a tease, Emily Fields" she laughed.

"If you want it" Emily laughed, outstretching her arm and lifting the hat above her head "You'll have to get it"  
Alison sighed. She jumped to try and grab the hat, but couldn't reach. Calling for desperate measures, she started climbing up Emily's torso. Emily wrapped her arms around Alison's waist and dropped the hat.

"Was this your plan all along?" Alison giggled, almost nervously.

"Maybe" Emily smirked back. She dived onto the bed, falling on top of Alison who's legs were still wrapped around her waist.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, occasionally glancing at each others lips. Then, they met each other halfway into a deep kiss. It started off chaste, but Alison soon felt Emily's tongue brushing against her bottom lip. Not sure what to do (as it was her first kiss) Alison nervously opened her mouth and let Emily's tongue enter.

"Mmh" she groaned. Emily smiled into the kiss.

"You just moaned" she laughed. Alison slapped her face.

"Hey" she argued "I'm enjoying this you know. And your not a bad kisser by the way, for a peasant" Emily chuckled slightly.

"As if you would know" she said "What is this, your first kiss?"  
"Yes" Alison replied "And I was enjoying it very much so if you don't mind..." she grabbed Emily's smirking face and kissed her again. Emily flipped them over, so Alison was straddling her waist, her golden hair falling into Emily's face. The kiss lasted seconds. Seconds turned into minutes. The kiss lasted for 16 minutes 28 seconds when they finally pulled away.

"That was" she started.

"Amazing" Alison finished, out of breathe. Both girls quickly scrambled up onto the bed and stared at each other for a while.

"Your amazing" Alison giggled, almost lost for words. When she realized what she had let slip out, she slapped her hands across her mouth.

"It's okay, princess" Emily smiled "Your amazing too"

"You know, I shouldn't be doing this" she sighed "You know..."  
"Because I'm a girl?" Emily asked, smirking. Alison shook her head, but after looking back at Emily, she nodded again.

"Yeah" she blushed "But also, your a peasant" Emily laughed.

"A-and I don't care that your a girl" Alison put in "Your unlike any boy I've ever met. Y-you actually care about me"

"Okay, is this a full on confession because I just came to return a hat..."

Emily started laughing and Alison playfully punched her on the shoulder.

They stared at each other for a little while longer until out of nowhere, she heard a shouting come from down stairs.

"Alison!" Mrs Dilaurentis called "Alison, you were out again today, weren't you? Stupid child!"  
Alison sighed. She stood up and paced around her room.

"Y-you'd better go" she said. Emily nodded and started heading to the window. She jumped up on top and hauled herself to the other side.

"Y-you can't tell anyone about this, p-peasant" Alison called, her voice cracking a bit. Emily chuckled.

"I get it, princess" Emily smiled.

"B-but I do like you" she made sure to add "I really, really do"

"I like you too" Emily laughed. She was just about to climb down, when she stopped.

"One more thing" she said, climbing back up the wall. Before anyone could say anything, Emily pushed Alison down by her chest onto the bed, climbed on top of her, and kissed her. One kiss led to two, two led to three, three led to five, five to ten, and ten to and endless amount of joint wet kisses.

"W-what was that for?" Alison asked, sitting up.

"I've just...wanted to kiss you for a long time" she replied "And I had no idea you wanted to kiss me too. And now I know you do, I might never wanna stop" she lent over and kissed her again.

"Emily" Alison laughed "S-stop. My mother will be up here in a minute and I don't want her to see you"

"Alright" Emily sighed, standing up off the bed and heading to the window "I'll see you later then"  
"Bye" Alison blushed slightly and raised her hand in a wave.

Emily smiled. She made a heart with her hands. Alison tried to do the same, but couldn't quite get her hands in place. Emily chuckled, watching Alison try.

"Your so cute" she smiled.

"Your cuter" Alison blushed. She waved goodbye as she watched Emily climb down the walls and vanish. Alison pulled a mini fist bump and threw herself on the bed.

"I can't believe it" she whispered, loud enough so only she could hear "She likes me too. She actually likes me too. Uhhh she's so fricking adorable and she doesn't even know it. Am I in love? I don't know...maybe" she grinned and played with her fingers. God, even just thinking about Emily triggered her...

"Wow" Emily laughed, walking away "I just had a make out session with the princess of Rosewood. Wait til I tell the girls" She couldn't help smirking at the thought of Alison underneath her, her tongue in her mouth and her heavy breathing.

"Oh god I'm so in love" Emily smacked her head "I'm so desperately hopelessly unreasonably unconditionally stupidly in love with Alison Dilaurentis"  
"Well at least one of us is happy"

Emily looked down to see the person talking to her-Paige. She was sitting on the corner of the road with a bottle of beer in her hand and she looked drunk.

"Paige" Emily hissed "What on earth are you doing?"  
"Baking a cake. What the fuck does it look like I'm doing? Sean broke up with me so now I'm here, all alone" Emily gulped. She hated seeing people in this state, no matter who they were.

"Hey, Paige, I'm so sorry about Sean..." Emily tried to say.

"It doesn't matter" Paige sighed "I was never in love with him anyway. In fact, I think I'm still in love with you" Emily didn't know what to say-she wanted to believe it was the drink talking.

"Paige" Emily said firmly "I-I like someone else now. You had your chance. I'm sorry" Paige smiled knowingly.

"Of course" she said "Your beautiful blonde princess. She's looking at you, you know"

Emily quickly looked back to see if Alison was there, and she was. But turning back around, Paige had completely vanished. She looked back up at Alison who giggled and waved. Emily shot her a cheeky wink, blew a kiss, then disappeared into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

"And where have you been?" Emily asked Hanna as she crawled through the door. Hanna nervously turned around, looking very guilty. Standing before her were Aria, Spencer and Emily.

"Just out" She answered, expecting them to believe her.

"Out?" Spencer said, sticking out her bottom lip "Out with who?" Hanna's hands turned clammy and sweaty.

"Sean Ackard"

All 3 girls gasped in shock. Hanna walked over and threw herself onto the ragged old sofa, playing with her hair.

"Sean Ackard?" Aria asked "But I thought he was seeing Paige McCullers?"  
"Haven't you heard?" Hanna squealed, excitedly "They broke up!" Emily gulped 'I know' she felt like saying.

"That's great" Spencer said, patting Emily on the back and siting down next to her "That means you can get Paige back now right?"  
Emily shrugged and scratched the back of her hand.

"You see guys, the thing is..." Emily started, the girls watching her closely "I don't think I want her back"  
"Why not?" Hanna asked, confused "You were crazy about Paige. Your already over her?"

"Well" Emily scrunched her face "There...hum...there may..."  
"There's someone else?" The 3 girls said in unison. Emily nodded her head.

"Oh my gosh Em!" Hanna squealed in excitement "I wanna know absolutely everything. First of all, boy or girl?"  
"Girl" Emily blushed

"Who is she?" Spencer asked, nudging Emily as she blushed bright red. Emily fell back onto the sofa and stared up at the sky.

"She's beautiful" She smiled, dreamily "She has gorgeous blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. I-I think I'm in love"

The girls raised their eyebrows and smiled.

"Look at you, all giggles and smiles" Aria teased, sitting down on the sofa next to Emily.

"She sounds great, Em" Hanna said "So come on, who is she?"  
Emily's face fell. She sat up and nervously smiled.

"Well, that's the thing" She began, slowly "Okay. If I tell you who it is, promise you won't get all freaked out and judge" They nodded their heads and turned to look at each other.

"So who is it?" Spencer asked, waiting for Emily's answer and grabbing a roll of bread

"It''s...it's...Alison Dilaurentis"  
The girls' jaws dropped to the floor. An awkward silence was created in the room. The silence lingered for about 10 seconds as the girls were still processing that name- Alison Dilaurentis.

"Alison" Hanna started

"Dilaurentis" Aria finished. Emily's eyes wandered the room.

"Yup" She smiled, seeking her friends' approval. They didn't say anything.

"When did this even happen?" Spencer spluttered, either in disbelief or amazement.

"I met her the night I split with Paige" Emily smiled "And I've seen her a few times since"  
"Does she like you back?" Hanna asked.

"I think so" she blushed.

"I heard she was a total bitch" Spencer muffled in between mouthfuls of bread "Get's whatever she wants. Reckless..."  
"She's misunderstood" Emily insisted "Her parents look down to her and want her to be more like her perfect brother and sister. The girl hardly sees the light of day. The King and Queen hate peasants-they see them as strange dangerous people. She never gets to go outside unless it's to run an errand for her parents..."

"So how do you see her..."  
"For the past couple of weeks I've been sneaking out to her bedroom with a rope so she can climb out the window. She'd never even been kissed...until yesterday"

"Wait" Hanna chuckled "You kissed her?"  
"Yeah" Emily blushed, fiddling with her hands "It was the best kiss I have ever had"  
"You were never like this with Paige" Spencer smirked "Maybe this is really the girl for you, Em"  
"Someone's definitely in love" Aria teased, lightly punching Emily on the shoulder.

"When do we get to meet her?" Hanna asked

"You can come with us to the forest sometime i-if you want" Emily said.

"Soot how did you meet" Spencer teased, punching Emily now. The other girls had gathered round their friend, eager to hear.

"Remember that job I got" Emily started "You know, bumped into a royal official one day and they asked if I wanted a job"  
"Yeah I remember" Hanna said.

"So I just went out to the castle to do it" She continued"A-and I snick out that bottle of rum of yours, Han"  
"I knew I wasn't crazy!" Hanna snapped her fingers together "You are so totally gonna pay for that, Emily Fields, that bottle cost me two weeks of labor"  
"Han, shut up" Aria hissed "Em, continue"  
"And she was just round the back of the castle. She ran straight into me..."  
"Ooh did she _fall on top of you_?"

"Spence, shut UP" Emily blushed "And no, she only knocked me down"  
"Oh so I guess you could say, she knocked you dead?" Hanna joked

"Real funny, Han"  
"She, _swept you off your feet?_ You _fell head over heels_?"  
"Yeah" Emily daydreamed, staring up at the ceiling "Head over heels"

"This isn't Emily Fields" Aria teased " This is Emily Fields in luuuuuuurve"

"In luuuuuuuurve"  
"In luuuuuuuurve"

"Shut UP you guys this is seriously getting old"

"You luuuuuuurve her, you wanna kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiss her, you wanna baaaaaaaaaaaang her" Hanna sang

"Your acting like such a little kid" Emily grumbled.

"Does she luuurve you back?" Hanna asked, still teasing Emily.

"I don't know" Emily shrugged "I don't think so. She only said she liked me yesterday-I can't just drop the L bomb, I'd freak her out"

"But you luuuuuuuuurve her don't you" Spencer continued.

"Can you guys seriously stop saying that?" Emily punched Hanna and Spencer on the arm.

"I'll stop" Hanna sighed "Hey speaking of luuuuuuurve, Aria, are you still seeing that Ezra Fitzgerald?"

"He prefers Fitz" Aria insisted "But oh yes, I guess you could say I've been _seeing_ him"

"You didn't" Spencer said

"I did" Aria smirked "Twice"

"Aria!" Hanna smacked her on the arm "You dirty girl! How was it"  
"It was...amazing" Aria grinned "Everything I dreamed it would be"

"I'm waiting for that special person" Spencer told them.

"So am I" Hanna agreed "I think it's safe to say Emily's pretty much found that special person"  
"Seriously, Han, can we change the subject?" Emily laughed, hitting her with her cap.

 **knock knock knock**

"It's open" Alison shouted, not looking up from her desk. Charlotte pushed open the door and entered the girl's room.

"Hey" she smiled, sitting down on Alison's bed "What you writing?"

"Nothing" Alison quickly replied, snapping her leather book shut and turning round to face Charlotte. Charlotte smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"Come on you can show me" she whined "I'm your big sister. Whatever it is, I won't tell mother and father..."  
"It's nothing...really" Alison interrupted, tucking the book under her bed "Just doodling"  
"If it was just doodling, then why do you look so scared?" Charlotte laughed. Alison blushed and gritted her teeth.

"Just let it go, okay Charlotte?" She insisted. Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"Fine" She sighed "Hey look. Who's that outside the window?"  
Alison shot up and ran over to the window hoping it was Emily, but there was no one there.

"Where?" She asked "I don't-Charlotte!"  
Charlotte had snatched the book from under the bed and was flipping the pages.

"Charlotte give that back!" Alison demanded, jumping on the bed and reaching for the book.

"Oh" Charlotte said, once she found the page Alison had been doodling on. "Ohhhhh. Ohhhhhhhh"

She had a huge grin on her face and was looking at Alison directly. "Does my little sister have a little crush?"  
Alison clenched her jaw. On the page were various doodlings of the words

 _ **Alison Dilaurentis + Emily Fields**_

 _ **Emily Fields**_

 _ **Emison**_

drawn in hearts and with little swirls around it.

"Shut up" She said "Give me that back" She snatched her leather book from Charlotte's hands and stuffed it back under the bed.

"A girl, huh" Charlotte nodded.

"Yes, a girl" Alison answered "A-and it's more than just a just a crush"

"Really?" Charlotte giggled, punching Alison lightly on the arm. Alison fell back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Yes" She swooned "Charlotte, do you believe in love at first sight?"

"Not as much as I used to, hun" Charlotte sighed, falling back to Alison "Do you luuuuurve her then"  
"Shut up" Alison chuckled, elbowing Charlotte "I'm sure you've been in love once" Charlotte shook her head.

"Never" She admitted. She rolled over on her side and lent her head on her elbow to face Alison. "So...I need deeeeeeetails"  
Alison blushed and bit her lip.

"So what does she look like?" Charlotte asked "Is she pretty? Or ugly? Tall or short?"  
"She's beautiful" Alison smiled "She's got this long brown hair that she always has down and it smells so gorgeous. She's slightly taller than me, and she's so strong. Her smile is so cute that you just stop thinking about anything else when she smiles and she has the cutest little dimples..."

"Wait...so...how did you have the time to meet such an amazing girl?"  
"The night I ran out the house at night" Alison started "Do you remember? I ran around the castle and bumped into her. She washes the walls at night-"

"Wait, at night?" Charlotte interrupted "Like, right now?"  
"Probably" Alison shrugged. Charlotte bounced off the bed and ran open to the window.

"Come here" She beckoned. Alison rushed over to the window. The two girls looked down to the castle garden and sure enough, there was Emily scrubbing the walls with a stern look on her face.

"Hey" Charlotte hissed "Emily!"

Emily dropped her tools and looked up to where Charlotte was waving furiously and Alison was blushing behind her.

"Hi" She called back.

"My sister luuurves you" She shouted. Alison slapped on her the arm.

"Charlotte!" She hissed "What did you say that for? I only told her I liked her yesterday, you can't drop the L bomb after a day- besides I think she only has a little crush on me..."  
"Tell her I love her too" Emily chuckled, continuing with her job. Alison gulped. Her face turned white.

"See" Charlotte whispered "She loves you too. Emily, babe, come up here"  
"What?" Alison shouted, smacking Charlotte on the shoulder "She can't come up here! She has work! Besides, if mother caught her..."  
"Sure" Emily replied "Once I've finished this brick"

Charlotte winked at Alison who walked over and fell back on her bed.

"Your such a dork" Charlotte moaned, after a few minutes of awkward silence"Try not to get too wet when she comes up here"

"Uhm..." came a voice from the window. Charlotte and Alison both shot their heads around to see Emily sitting on the window sill with an eyebrow raised. Charlotte let out a snort and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Emily!" Alison breathed "I'm sorry she didn't mean to..."

"It's fine" Emily laughed. "You must be Charlotte"

"I am indeed" Charlotte smiled, holding out a hand for Emily to shake "Holy mother of bricks you are a looker" Emily laughed and awkwardly tucked her hands in her pocket.

"Thanks" she said. "Hey Alison"  
"Hey" Alison said, staring into Emily's eyes "C-come and sit down"

Emily sat down and sat next to Alison on the bed, their hands ever so slightly brushing.

"Well aren't you two just the cutest!" Charlotte pouted. Emily blushed and looked over at Alison who was blushing.

"Shut up, Charlotte" Alison said through her teeth "You can leave now"  
"I'm not going anywhere" Charlotte announced "Aw look at you two! Your nervous around each other"

"Charlotte!" Alison boomed "Just go!" Charlotte laughed and held her hands up in defeat.

"Alright Alright I'm going" She scuttled out the room, leaving the two girls alone.

"Your sister's nice" Emily smiled, rubbing her fingers against Alison's hand. Alison shivered at her touch.

"Yeah" she replied "She is pretty nice. Nicer than the rest of my family anyway..."

"Oh come on" Emily laughed "I'm sure they're not THAT bad" Alison shook her head.

"Don't be so sure" she said "You haven't met them. You've only heard stupid stories about them through village gossip" Emily nodded

"I'm sure your right" she said "It's not like I'll ever get to properly meet them anyway"

"That's probably for the best" Alison agreed "Now come here" She grabbed Emily's face and kissed her hard. Emily smirked at Alison's possessiveness and kicked off her boots. Alison gently started laying back and brought Emily on top of her, their lips still locked. Emily's hands were firmly gripping the princess's waist and were just about to travel further down when...

 **bang bang bang**

"Alison!" Came a deep voice from the other side of the door "Alison it's your father, can I come in?" Alison pulled away and cursed.

"Now's not really a good time, father!" She replied, pushing Emily off of her by her chest.

"Alison, darling, I really do have to talk to you" Alison clenched her fists.

"Under the bed" she whispered in Emily's ear. Emily raised an eyebrow

"I like this" she purred "It's naughty" Alison rolled her eyes and pushed her off the bed, where she quickly scurried under. Mr Dilaurentis opened the door.

"Alison, dear" he started "I just came to tell you that your mother and I will be out of town for the next few days. We leave at dawn" Alison cracked a small smile.

"Okay, father" she said "Where are you going?"  
"None of your business, nosy child" he spat. Suddenly, his face turned into a confused look "Alison, who's boot is that?" Alison silently cursed under her breathe. Emily had forgot to tuck her boots under the bed with her.

"Uuh" Alison replied, not quite knowing what to say "I-I think it's one of Jason's. He must have left it in here the other day when he...came to help me with tutoring work" Mr Dilaurentis raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I best return it to him" he said, picking Emily's boot up and walking slowly away with it.

"Alison" he said, turning around. Alison gulped.

"Yes, father?" she answered, a slight squeaking to her voice. Emily couldn't help but chuckle a little silently under her breathe at the sound of Alison so scared.

"It smells of the countryside in here" he complained, almost spitting "It's a disgusting smell"  
"It's just the natural smell of the world, father" Alison argued "I can't help it..."  
"Then put something over you window" he insisted "I will not have my little girl smelling of _country air._ It's bad for your skin, you know. I'd much prefer you smelling of that lovely expensive perfume that your mother and I bought for you from the Kahn's last week"

"As you wish, father" Alison sighed. The King left the room and Emily quickly scrambled up onto the bed.

"I see what you mean now" She chuckled, sitting in front of Alison "He's a right old fart" Alison laughed.

"I know" she sighed "H-Hey Emily?" Emily gently stroked Alison's chin with her thumb.

"Yes, princess?" Emily replied

"Did you really mean that?" Alison asked

"Mean what?" Emily replied

"Well" Alison answered, placing her hand gently over Emily's "That you l-lo-"  
"Oh that" Emily laughed "And yeah, I did" Alison breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you've only known me for a few weeks" she said. Emily shrugged.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" she asked nervously. Alison smiled.

"Of course I do" she said "Do you wanna kiss me now?" Emily laughed and nodded her head before leaning in to a long kiss.

"Gosh, your so beautiful" Emily sighed "Your so beautiful it hurts" Alison laughed and kissed Emily on the cheek.

"Well your beautiful too" she smiled "And cute. And smart, and funny, and strong, and..."  
"You finished?" Emily laughed, putting an arm around the princess's shoulders. Alison blushed and nervously looked down at her fiddling hands.

"Sorry" she apologized "Your just so amazing I could literally go on forever" Emily rubbed her bottom lip with her thumb, and Alison looked down at it with a smirk on her face.

"Your such a sappy gooey romantic" Emily giggled "Just promise not to start puking flowers and love hearts" Alison laughed at Emily's sense of humor. She grabbed her smirking face and kissed her softly.

"I really have to go" Emily told her, pulling away and standing up.

"Okay" Alison smiled "I-I'll see you tomorrow, mermaid"  
Emily grinned like an idiot at the sound of Alison's nickname for her.

"See you later, princess"

"Emily?" Alison called, realizing she'd forgotten to say something.

"Yeah?" Emily turned around, still sitting on the window sill.

"I love you too" Emily smirked and winked, before climbing down the side of the wall, which is how she usually ended her wonderful days with the Princess of Rosewood


End file.
